Tonight’s blog is based on an illustration I once read and is produced below.

“Linda was traveling alone up the rutted and rugged highway from Alberta to the Yukon. She did-n’t know you don’t travel to Whitehorse alone in a rundown Honda Civic, so she set off where only four-wheel-drives normally venture. The first evening she found a room in the mountains near a summit and asked for a 5 a.m. wakeup call so she could get an early start. She couldn’t under-stand why the clerk looked surprised at that request, but as she awoke to early-morning fog shrouding the mountain tops, she understood.

Not wanting to look foolish, she got up and went to breakfast. Two truckers invited Linda to join them, and since the place was so small, she felt obliged. ‘Where are you headed?’ one of the truckers asked. She told them that she was going to Whitehorse, to which one of them responded, ‘In that little Civic? No way! This pass is dangerous in weather like this.’

‘Well, I’m determined to try,’ was Linda’s gutsy, if not very informed, response.

‘Then I guess we’re just going to have to hug you,’ the trucker suggested. Linda drew back.

‘Not like that!’ The truckers chuckled. ‘We’ll put one truck in front of you and one in the rear. In that way, we’ll get you through the mountains.’ All that foggy morning Linda followed the two red dots in front of her and had the reassurance of a big escort behind as they made their way safely through the mountains.” (750 Engaging Illustrations)

As Christians, we all need to be hugged once in a while. Sometimes we need the help of brethren to guide us through the fog of some problematic situation we find ourselves in, or have our backs when we have to do something difficult.

Two lessons come to my mind as I think about the illustration above. First, we need to make sure that we are not only being hugged but never doing the hugging. Let us be there for brethren when they are in need. Remember the words of John in his first epistle.

1 John 3:17-18 (ESV)
¹⁷ But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

When brethren need help out of difficult situations, let us try to be the two little red lights they can follow out of danger.

Second, when we are in trouble, let us not be too ashamed, or too proud, to ask brethren for help. We are surrounded by good and loving brothers and sisters in Christ who would love to assist us when we need a hug. Brethren cannot help us, though, if we are not willing to ask for it. Take advantage of the benefits of being a part of a local church. Brethren cannot always do a lot, but most brethren will do whatever they can to help. In my experience, brethren, more times than not, come through when they are called upon to lend a helping hand. The only thing that stops them sometimes is not being aware of a problem someone is having. If you ever need a hug, ask for one.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.